You Are Okay!

Here is another subject that I had been thinking about a lot lately when I ran across this article. It's hard being a new mom. I mean to start with, we are female which means that one of our innate characteristics is that we will compare ourselves with every other mother who has ever lived. Correction, we will unfairly compare other's best talents with our worst or vice versa.

Why do we do that?

I have to admit, I have had issues with that. To clear things up, this blog is primarily for my benefit. If I make specific suggestions on how to run a house or parent children it is mainly for me to remember with future children what worked for me. Please do not feel like I am saying that is the only way that cleaning or mothering or anything else can or should be done. If there is anything that I have learned with becoming a mother it's this: there are a billion right ways to raise a happy healthy child. There are so many great ideas and great ways to parent. Just do what you know best and what works best for you and your child(ren). That is my main goal. To find what works best for me. 

I loved this article because I am the sort of person who loves to listen to people. I love to hear what worked for other people as they started out becoming parents. I am happy to accept advice. The problem with that is that at times I take other people's advice as doctrine. As though if I am not doing exactly what they did I am 100% wrong. (I loved math, there was always a wrong answer and a right answer. I could get 100% of the problems right if I just found that right answer) In fact, the other day I lamented to Russ that there were parenting choices that other parents had made with such and such kid and I had tried and they didn't work with our daughter. He sweetly reminded me, "Kaela isn't him, just because that worked for them doesn't mean it will work for you."

I tell you what, parenting is so much fun. Those moments, I mean those fleeting ones that you prepare for and then they fly by. Like you spend all this time to make dinner so that you have a few moments to smile with your family and start into your baby's eyes and just enjoy who they are. The times they do things like pee all over the bathroom floor while waiting for a bath and you should be so annoyed but all you can do is laugh because it's not like they meant to. Those moments are what parenting is about. Yeah there are things that is hard about parenting, but I feel like I make it infinitely harder when I worry about what other people do that I am not doing.

Here's the thing: I am a good parent. I am still constantly learning, but I am so much more confident at being a mom then I was even just a few months ago. The biggest thing is that I am doing my best. Just like any other parent in the world. That's what matters, just do your best.